ABSTRACT
The emphasis on vocabulary helped students make stronger connections and deepen their work knowledge. Choosing a small number of high-utility words and helping students learn them in extensive ways is crucial. The teachers at Eastside Middle School found that focusing on fewer words benefits struggling learners, in particular. High-achieving students were also challenged to think deeply about smaller networks of words, allowing them to make more intricate connections. Vocabulary development in the core disciplines can help students learn subject-area concepts in ways they won’t forget, but it is sometimes difficult for teachers to get past thinking that vocabulary instruction is the English language arts teacher’s job. Vocabulary instruction doesn’t need to be too hard, but it should be challenging and stimulating. Providing opportunities for a productive struggle in vocabulary ensures that students will own strategies to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words they encounter in more challenging texts.
